Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
US Defence Secretary William Cohen says that funding for the second tranche of Boeing F/A-18E/Fs will be withheld until the Department of Defense (DoD) is satisfied that the US Navy has corrected the problem of wing drop.
Almost $2.4 billion in fiscal year 1998 funding for the second low-rate initial production batch of 20 aircraft was scheduled to be released in late March. The US Navy plans to complete flight testing of potential F/A-18E/F wing-drop solutions by the end of February and hopes to satisfy the DoD that it has corrected the problem in time for the production funding to be released as scheduled.
Cohen has not stopped work on the initial production batch of 12 aircraft, funded in FY1997. The US Navy has come under fire for not informing the DoD of the wing-drop problem, first observed in March 1996, before low-rate initial production was approved.
The Navy continues to play down the significance of the wing drop, saying it has already overcome more serious problems encountered during F/A-18E/F flight testing, including wing drop in the landing configuration.
The favoured solution to the problem continues to be a combination of a relocated leading-edge snap, roughening of the leading edge and a porous fairing over the wing-fold hinge. The Navy is not prepared to declare victory until it has completed flight testing to optimise the solution, to minimise the effect on weight, drag and cost.
Source: Flight International